Task allocation and path planning for multi-robot inspection in mines considering charging

Using robots to replace manual methods for efficient and safe inspection in complex underground environments is the future development trend of coal mining production. To address the continuous inspection problem of multi-robot in the underground tunnels environment, a multi-robot task planning method considering the allocation of charging piles is proposed. Firstly, a model of the underground tunnels environment with charging piles is constructed; then, a mathematical model for the task allocation of multi-robot considering the influence of road environment is established, and an improved bidirectional ant colony (IBACO) algorithm is proposed for optimization and solution, which can obtain the optimal inspection task sequence for each robot, ensuring that each robot can complete the inspection tasks efficiently and reach the charging pile position in time for charging. Secondly, considering the charging issue as well, combined with road environmental factors, a mathematical model for path planning with charging piles is established, and an improved honey badger-fly (IHBAFOA) algorithm is proposed for optimization and solution, which can plan a safe inspection path that traverses all inspection task points. Finally, through the design of three parts of simulation experiments, it is proved that compared with several other mainstream algorithms, the proposed algorithm has advantages in solving the continuous inspection problem of multi-robot in the underground tunnels environment.